Roads ready for start of school

Summertime road closures in Forsyth County have ended just in time for students to go back to school today.

Kelly Mill Road and Grand Avenue, each with a segment blocked to through traffic since May, reopened Wednesday as scheduled.

The dam replacement project in the Grand Cascades subdivision is complete.

However, Tim Allen, the county’s assistant director of engineering, cautioned that work on Kelly Mill between Post and Bethelview roads is expected to continue through November.

“It’ll be in a construction zone,” Allen said. “There’ll be some daytime lane closures to complete the rest of the project.”

The summer closure allowed crews to install a culvert, which mitigates flooding.

The completed project will include turning lanes, improved grades and curb and gutters with sidewalks on both sides of the road.

A traffic light will also be put in at the entrance to West Forsyth High. Allen said the school system has been notified of the plans.

“The good thing about the high school is it does have Drew Road as an alternate entrance, so it really should be a minimal impact on them,” he said.

Both the Grand Avenue and Kelly Mill Road projects were funded by current 1-cent sales tax collections.

Upcoming roadwork that school traffic may encounter this year includes a pavement improvement project on Gilbert Road between Old Atlanta and Trammel roads, as well as repaving about 65 miles throughout the county.

Drivers are most likely to encounter the resurfacing projects during the school day, Allen said.

“It’s a very temporary situation, usually it’s less than two days,” he said. “People need to be patient and be watching for the prep work for the resurfacing.

“If they see the signs go up and the pre-paving activities where [the contractor] is clipping the shoulders and getting ready, in the next week or so, they’re probably going to show up and pave the road.”

Some of the more heavily traveled roads to be resurfaced before the end of the year include portions of Ronald Regan Boulevard and McGinnis Ferry and Old Atlanta roads.